Biomedical subjects

M H Cullen

Publications and source records attributed to M H Cullen.

79 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMed1979

Angio-immunoblastic lymphadenopathy: report of ten cases and review of the literature.

Angio-immunoblastic lymphadenopathy (AIL) is a disease of unknown aetiology and pathogenesis. It has features of hyperimmunity, immune deficiency and can behave like a malignant lymphoma. An underlying abnormality of T-cell regulatory function has been proposed. We report ten patients with AIL followed prospectively and review 200 cases from the literature. As well as showing the typical features described in previous retrospective series namely: constitutional symptoms, generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, skin eruptions, hypergammaglobulinaemia and characteristic lymph node histology; four patients had oedema with ascites or pleural effusions associated with hyponatraemia and hypoalbuminaemia. We have also observed low free thyroxine indices in three patients with elevated TSH levels in two, but without clinical features of hypothyroidism. Seven of the patients in this study were treated with prednisone and cyclophosphamide. Three achieved complete remission but only one patient has survived longer than two years. Failure to achieve complete remission has been associated with a 90 per cent mortality within one year of the onset of disease in the reports reviewed. Corticosteroids alone have produced only a 40 per cent rate of remission. The management of poor responders, non-responders and many relapse cases in unsatisfactory. More instensive chemotherapy is very hazardous, increasing the already high risk of severe infections, and is often unsuccessful. Histological features recently reported to represent co-existent immunoblastic lymphoma at diagnosis were recognized in three of our patients, two of which went on to develop definite lymphoma.

Aged↗

PubMed1978

Comparison of combined and single-agent chemotherapy in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of favourable histological type.

Sixty-six untreated patients with advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of favourable histological type were allocated alternately to initial treatment with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisolone or with chlorambucil. The complete remission rate was higher in the group receiving combination chemotherapy, but the overall response rate was the same for both groups. The mean duration of complete remission was the same as that of good partial remission, and was the same for both treatments. The duration of remission was influenced by histological type and extent of disease at presentation, but not age. Those who responded to the initial treatment (whether with complete or with good partial remission) survived significantly longer than did non-responders. It is concluded that neither treatment is satisfactory and that new treatment programmes are needed for patients with a favourable prognosis, especially young patients with extensive disease.

Adult↗

PubMed1978

Combination chemotherapy for advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of unfavourable histology.

Thirty previously untreated adults with diffuse histiocytic and diffuse undifferentiated lymphoma were treated with a combination of adriamycin, vincristine, prednisolone, and L-asparaginase. Complete remission was achieved in 11 out of 12 cases with stage III and 7 out of 18 cases with stage IV disease (P less than 0.005). Bone marrow infiltration, clinical central nervous system involvement, and massive intra-abdominal disease all influenced the prognosis adversely. Complete remission was followed by cranial irradiation and intrathecal methotrexate, and maintained with weekly cyclophosphamide and methotrexate and daily 6-mercaptopurine. The duration of remission was significantly longer for patients with stage III disease (the median of which has not been reached), than for patients with stage IV disease (P = 0.007). Survival was significantly longer for patients in whom complete remission was achieved than for those in whom it was not (P = 0.001), and also for patients with stage III than for those with stage IV disease (P = 0.02).

Adolescent↗

PubMed1976

Fatal graft-versus-host disease following transfusion of granulocytes from normal donors.

A case of fatal graft-versus-host disease was seen in an adult with acute leukaemia, after transfusion of leucocytes from normal donors. This is the first reported case of graft-versus-host disease following transfusion of normal blood-products to a patient with a disease not usually associated with severe immunoincompetence. The number of lymphocytes transfused was no higher than that given when platelet concentrates are prepared from a single donor.

Graft vs Host Disease↗

PubMed1976

Cancer chemotherapy.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prophylactic granulocyte transfusions: results of a randomized controlled trial in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia.

A prospective randomized and controlled clinical trial of prophylactic granulocyte transfusions was conducted in an attempt to reduce the mortality from infection in newly diagnosed adults with acute myelogenous leukemia. Granulocytes were harvested from normal donors by cytapheresis, and transfused patients received a median of 1.45 x 10(10) granulocytes (range 0.28--3.45 x 10(10)) on alternate days during marrow aplasia caused by initial induction chemotherapy. Transfusion were started if the absolute peripheral granulocyte count was less than 500 microliters. Thirteen patients received from one to 12 granulocyte transfusions, and 11 control patients received no granulocytes. No significant advantage was demonstrated in the transfused patients compared with controls with regard to the following: 1) deaths due to infection, 2) reduction in the frequency of febrile episodes, 3) delay in the onset of fever, 4) reduction in the length of febrile episodes, or 5) reduction in the frequency of proven infection.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Combined granulocyte and platelet transfusions. Development of alloimmunization as reflected by decreasing cell recovery values.

Twenty-three patients undergoing induction therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) received a total of 191 combined prophylactic granulocyte (PMN) and platelet (PLT) concentrates on alternate days (median 8, range 3-12 per patient). Each transfusion was assessed by monitoring the patient for reactions and by estimating the recovery of PMN in the circulation at 1 hour and of PLT at 1 and 20 hours. Seventeen patients developed alloimmunization to PLT from at least one donor, defined as either a PLT recovery of less than 15 percent at 1 hour and/or less than 10 percent at 20 hours. In this group there was a progressive reduction in PMN and PLT recovery with increasing transfusion number, strongly suggesting alloimmunization to both cells. Thirty-four transfusions were accompanied by transfusion reactions, thirty-two of which occurred in ten patients who had PMN recoveries of less than 5 percent after at least one transfusion (median 2.5, range 1-6 transfusions per patient). Actuarial calculations predicted that 70 percent of patients would become alloimmunized to PLT from at least two individuals after receiving 11 transfusions. These results suggest that combined PMN and PLT transfusion are associated with the rapid development of alloimmunization.

Cell Survival↗